Interviewed on the BBC's Good Morning Wales programme about reported delays in processing claims under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS), BAFF Chairman Douglas Young criticised the excuse that such delays were "partly down to the compensation culture". While we know that many claimants have managed their own claims successfully, Young queried why injured personnel should not be allowed to seek specialist advice and assistance from the Royal British Legion or others in complex cases. He commented in the interview that the excuse "made a nonsense of the Armed Forces Covenant".

The Scottish National Party's devolved Scottish Government published on 26 November their White Paper entitled "Scotland's Future: Your Guide to an Independent Scotland". The extract below sets out the intended position of current service personnel and veterans in the event of a 'Yes' vote in the September 2014 Referendum. It says that no Scottish service personnel would face compulsory redundancy during their contract period. The Scottish Government also intends to examine how the terms and conditions of service personnel could be improved, for example through the official representation of service personnel.

New rules come into force on 1 December 2013 affecting foreign and commonwealth personnel applying to live in the UK.

BritishForcesNews reports that the changes include a minimum income requirement and all spouses having to take an English language test.

In Cyprus personnel have been urged to apply for their visa before the changes come into force. See this video report from BritishForcesNews:

The House of Lords is holding a debate on Thursday, 7 November on "Protecting the armed forces from vulnerability to legal challenge". A useful House of Lords background note has been produced as background reading for this debate. The British Armed Forces Federation (BAFF) has also produced a draft initial response to the 'Fog of law' Policy Exchange paper by Laura Croft and Thomas Tugendhat. We will be monitoring the debate and will comment further in light of what is said.